Taxi-booking service Lyft unveiled a number of new features meant to boost user safety, which will be available on its mobile app.

These include a new button enabling users to call emergency services from within the app, and more prominent placement of a driver’s licence plate number accompanied by a reminder to check this before getting in the car.

The app will also now require users to provide detailed feedback when they give a driver a rating below four (of a maximum five) stars.

In a statement, Mary Winfield, Lyft’s head of trust and safety, said the changes are aimed at “making it easier to identify your Lyft ride, get help in an unsafe situation and ensure everyone in our community is held to the same standards”.

Lyft is already deploying the driver ID function, with the emergency service call capability due in the coming weeks.

The updates build on the earlier addition of criminal monitoring and enhanced identity verification for drivers in April, and come as taxi-booking apps face pressure to increase protections for passengers following the death of a woman who got into a car she mistook for her taxi, booked on Uber.

Following the incident, Uber updated its app to include reminders for users to verify their driver’s identity and vehicle details.